Please provide feedback

Returned to tennis 6 months ago after 20 years away from it. Played varsity and local tournaments for 5 years then quit for 20 years. Please let me know hat glaring errors im making, as well as a rough estimate on my NTRP rating (which I know is probably difficult without seeing my entire game in match play).

Hard to tell your NTRP since you're just hitting rather casually. Based off of what I see I would say between a 3.5 and a 4. I am just not sure because you're not in a competitive situation and there are a few things that I see in your strokes that could cause that to fall either way.

You have a decent forehand, but there are a few things that I do not like.

You are very armsy. It seems you're trying so hard to achieve a windshield wiper form that you forget to use the rest of your body. On quite a few shots it seems like you try to gain power my just flipping the head over with your hands and without shoulder or lower body movement.

There are also a few times in your video where you seem to be trying to guide the ball instead of stroking through it. This causes your to lose acceleration into the ball causing a weak hit.

Overall, not bad. But an accurate assessment of your rating is difficult without seeing some competitive points

I second john's advice. you have to use the rest of your body, form a kinetic chain. But the problem is, once you get the rest of your body involved, you're adding a lot more power than you're probably used to. A lot of your shots are going pretty deep as it is. With added power, a lot of those shots are likely to sail long.

to counter that, make sure to:
--remove any lead tape on your racquet if you have any
--switch to 17g strings if you're using 16g
--tighten your strings, they may be a little loose

you'll get a lot more control with a tighter stringbed, more spin with smaller gauge strings. Extra lead gives you extra power, which you don't need.

I can't tell if my ground strokes are powerful--what I mean is that they feel powerful and seem to be relatively fast--though perhaps a bit flat--but when I watch 5.0+ players practicing on YouTube they seem to be hitting much harder.

I guess what I'm asking is whether or not my shots are powerful enough for the 3.5-4.0 level, or if I should still try to add power?

Actually, using the kinetic chain more properly will probably resolve my problem and give me more power and control.

I don't have any lead tape on my racquet (prestige s) but perhaps I need to tighten the strings a bit.

Both of you can play 4.0, but might need to try a little bit harder. Both have the strokes, both just pushing the ball back and forth.
Varsity high school ball is usually 4-4.5 level, in the top singles.

Im going to need to start playing earlier in the day or at night because the heat here in Brasilia is scorching and the climate is dry so you feel like you´re playing in the middle of the desert. It makes it hard to really go for it, though some days we pull it off.

I appreciate the feedback! Im really open to any technical advice anyone cares to share. This is a great forum and Im so happy I found it.

I'm not a qualified coach but I think it's quite visible that you were playing much better tennis (before the break). You have the grooves despite some lazy or clumsy footwork at times. If I was to criticise at least one thing, it would be your sliced backhand. There's something fundamentally wrong with it. It looks like you had a wrong grip.

Continental (hammer) grip is the most common, even if some disagree. You don't have to do any wrist adjustments, just go through the ball. I would stay away concentrating on heavy under spin, start hitting balls deep and low. Once you get the feel of it you can maybe experiment with a slight grip variation for more spin. One thing that helped me years ago were words of a friend of mine that still echo in my head. He said, keep the angle between your arm and the racket constant and don't drop your wrist, otherwise you'll lose the control of your shot.

Thanks Lee...will do. I will try to browse some videos containing drills as well so I can add more explosiveness to the practice.

Click to expand...

I reviewed your video as well. I think your strokes are pretty solid (except for the slice backhand which you need to drive though more and agree with the suggestion above). It does look like with your forehand than you are trying to meld the old school with the modern forehand. You might take a look at a video I believe it is called Lock and Roll tennis. Pretty good instruction on the modern forehand. You probably could pick up a couple of pointers which would turn a nice forehand into a weapon.
Finally, if you are dying in the heat, why are you wearing dark colored clothing? Take it from someone who does play in the desert, only light colored clothes in the sun.

Thank you so much for the responses. Just as a point of reference, here is a video of my first couple of months or so back, playing some points. It gets a bit better about half way through the video, but its pretty ugly. Im encouraged by how much of my game has come back since then, but to be honest I was primarily a serve and volleyer as a kid (the 80´s) and now Im playing much more at the baseline (like everyone else). I still like to approach the net, but I dont have the hand speed and hand/eye coordination I once had.

I reviewed your video as well. I think your strokes are pretty solid (except for the slice backhand which you need to drive though more and agree with the suggestion above). It does look like with your forehand than you are trying to meld the old school with the modern forehand. You might take a look at a video I believe it is called Lock and Roll tennis. Pretty good instruction on the modern forehand. You probably could pick up a couple of pointers which would turn a nice forehand into a weapon.
Finally, if you are dying in the heat, why are you wearing dark colored clothing? Take it from someone who does play in the desert, only light colored clothes in the sun.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the video recommendation (lock and roll). I will take a look at that one again. I remember it being a very good video.

Im about 30 pounds over my normal weight right now and I guess Im self-conscious so Im wearing a lot of black this year. lol

I took some video of some tiebreaker play. Ugh...had a horrible day. Kept floating my shots out of the court. Please take a look and let me know what kinds of adjustments to make. It was such a frustrating day. Thanks so much!

Returned to tennis 6 months ago after 20 years away from it. Played varsity and local tournaments for 5 years then quit for 20 years. Please let me know hat glaring errors im making, as well as a rough estimate on my NTRP rating (which I know is probably difficult without seeing my entire game in match play).

Thanks for the vid Andre. Enjoyed watching it. Nice camera angle. From this vid you look like the 3.25 to 3.5 guys I play against. But this is just one vid, and I notice now that you've posted some more, so I might change that assessment.

Having said that, your competitive game might well be around 4.0 as you look young and very athletic. You might play very well under pressure and have a formidable serve. And your strokes might actually be quite consistent in match play.

Also will add that whatever your competitive level right now is, you look to have lots of potential. Now to the other vids.

Thank you so much for the responses. Just as a point of reference, here is a video of my first couple of months or so back, playing some points. It gets a bit better about half way through the video, but its pretty ugly. Im encouraged by how much of my game has come back since then, but to be honest I was primarily a serve and volleyer as a kid (the 80´s) and now Im playing much more at the baseline (like everyone else). I still like to approach the net, but I dont have the hand speed and hand/eye coordination I once had.

Nice vid. Enjoyed watching. Ok, you hit some nice serves, groundstrokes, and volleys. But it's pretty sporadic. Not as bad as my usual level of play, ie., I'm pretty sure you'd beat me in match play, but still, from this vid, only between 3.25 and 3.5 level of play. On to the next vids. Glad you posted them.

I took some video of some tiebreaker play. Ugh...had a horrible day. Kept floating my shots out of the court. Please take a look and let me know what kinds of adjustments to make. It was such a frustrating day. Thanks so much!

Serve: Note how you're falling over to the left and almost getting out of the way of your toss. See how getting your weight more toward your target and your toss a bit more in front works for you.

Forehand: While you're bending your knees, you're not using the legs in the actual shot, which will give a safer margin for your relatively flat shots without loss of pace. That first mid-court ball you hit the tape on is a prime example.

I think your "bad day" could have been 90% mental; when I'm floating shots long, I find shrinking the court (i.e. imagining that the court is smaller and aiming for those imaginary boundaries) very useful.

Serve: Note how you're falling over to the left and almost getting out of the way of your toss. See how getting your weight more toward your target and your toss a bit more in front works for you.

Forehand: While you're bending your knees, you're not using the legs in the actual shot, which will give a safer margin for your relatively flat shots without loss of pace. That first mid-court ball you hit the tape on is a prime example.

I think your "bad day" could have been 90% mental; when I'm floating shots long, I find shrinking the court (i.e. imagining that the court is smaller and aiming for those imaginary boundaries) very useful.

hth

Click to expand...

Thank you so much! I really think much of it was mental. Part of it was the camera being there, I think...the other part was playing against a friend I havent played with in months and wanting to show improvement.

Your idea about thinking of a shorter court is an awesome one, and I will definitely try that! Thank you so much!!

I'd try playing some 3.5-4.0 tourneys and see what happens, one thing you'll need at whatever level you chuse is tourney experience- the more you get the further you'll go in the ladder. Keep up the good work. You may also consider playing flex league.

1) on the forehand, you are not getting a lot of shoulder rotation. I see the racquet coming back with you bending at the wrist. Try to point at the ball with your left arm so that your shoulders (when the racquet is back) are in line with the path of the ball. In general, I think you are a little too close to the body and too far back on a lot of your forehands. I would try to get more extension on that side (I like to feel as if I am throwing the racquet forward at the ball)

2) you swung too much at the volley - you would have done better to punch straight through the volley (with a short stroke) instead of swinging straight down with a long stroke.

3) In contrast, on many of the slice backhands, you are stopping at contact, instead of finishing long and through the point of contact. Use that follow-through as a guide. The finish helps you aim and determine the amount of underspin. When you finish low, the ball will be shorter and with more underspin, when you finish high, the shot will be hit deeper and with less underspin.

4) On the serve, if you freeze at 16, right at contact, you see that (a) you are not hitting the ball as high as possible, so you are losing power; (b) you are not swinging through the shot (so you are losing power) and are, instead, stopping the racquet at contact.

Ttt for flex league info. I assume it's a tourney that allows you to play outside your rating level?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

A tennis flex league is a tennis league that might have seasons running for a couple of months that allows the players to set dates and times for matches. That is, match scheduling isn't dictated by an administrator but is rather totally determined by the players. I'm in a flex league. Check out the website in my signature.

1) on the forehand, you are not getting a lot of shoulder rotation. I see the racquet coming back with you bending at the wrist. Try to point at the ball with your left arm so that your shoulders (when the racquet is back) are in line with the path of the ball. In general, I think you are a little too close to the body and too far back on a lot of your forehands. I would try to get more extension on that side (I like to feel as if I am throwing the racquet forward at the ball)

2) you swung too much at the volley - you would have done better to punch straight through the volley (with a short stroke) instead of swinging straight down with a long stroke.

3) In contrast, on many of the slice backhands, you are stopping at contact, instead of finishing long and through the point of contact. Use that follow-through as a guide. The finish helps you aim and determine the amount of underspin. When you finish low, the ball will be shorter and with more underspin, when you finish high, the shot will be hit deeper and with less underspin.

4) On the serve, if you freeze at 16, right at contact, you see that (a) you are not hitting the ball as high as possible, so you are losing power; (b) you are not swinging through the shot (so you are losing power) and are, instead, stopping the racquet at contact.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the detailed feedback. You are spot on! I have incorporated your advice into my shots and its helping a lot. Thank you very much!

A tennis flex league is a tennis league that might have seasons running for a couple of months that allows the players to set dates and times for matches. That is, match scheduling isn't dictated by an administrator but is rather totally determined by the players. I'm in a flex league. Check out the website in my signature.

Here is some video I took yesterday. Im on the far side of the court. Im focusing on earlier preparation, a complete swing all the way through the ball, and hitting harder. Ive also switched my racquet to the APD.

Here is some video I took yesterday. Im on the far side of the court. Im focusing on earlier preparation, a complete swing all the way through the ball, and hitting harder. Ive also switched my racquet to the APD.

Hi Andre. Nice video. Love a player who hits with a one hander. Nice strokes there, but just a couple comments/questions.

How is the APD for hitting one handed backhands? I've always had more success hitting it with wilson rackets, smaller head sized, head light frames. Just curious because the APD is mainly known for spin and power right? But then it seems that you hit a lot of the shots very flat and barely clearing the net. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think to up your level now, the pace is there so bravo. But gotta "spin for the win" as they say. Try to clear the net by a bit higher while still having the ball penetrate just as deep into the court. The spin will add consistency. Don't get me wrong, I love it when I crank one DTL flat for a winner, but unless your roger federer, under game pressure, that flat shot will get dumped into the net without some more spin.

BTW you speak great English too. You Brasilian? Seems like a beautiful place. Cheers.

Here is some video I took yesterday. Im on the far side of the court. Im focusing on earlier preparation, a complete swing all the way through the ball, and hitting harder. Ive also switched my racquet to the APD.

Tbh, it looks like you may have been a bit hasty with your racquet change. I think your previous stick may have been a little more suited to your strokes as you hit relatively flat.

Those forehands you are hitting into the back fence should give you a clue. Otherwise, you will probably need to go a little more low to high with your standard rally ball using your new stick.

Click to expand...

Thanks! Im on the far side of the court in the last video, though...I dont recall hitting any forehands into the back fence that day, but Ill check the video again.... Thanks! I do need to adjust to the new stick, for sure...and I do need to improve the spin Im putting on the ball for sure.

Hi Andre. Nice video. Love a player who hits with a one hander. Nice strokes there, but just a couple comments/questions.

How is the APD for hitting one handed backhands? I've always had more success hitting it with wilson rackets, smaller head sized, head light frames. Just curious because the APD is mainly known for spin and power right? But then it seems that you hit a lot of the shots very flat and barely clearing the net. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think to up your level now, the pace is there so bravo. But gotta "spin for the win" as they say. Try to clear the net by a bit higher while still having the ball penetrate just as deep into the court. The spin will add consistency. Don't get me wrong, I love it when I crank one DTL flat for a winner, but unless your roger federer, under game pressure, that flat shot will get dumped into the net without some more spin.

BTW you speak great English too. You Brasilian? Seems like a beautiful place. Cheers.

Click to expand...

Hey! For some reason I didn't see your post until now. Sorry about that!

Thank you for the kind words! I'm an American who moved down here in March. My wife is Brazilian and always wanted us to move here, so we finally did.

I can hit a two handed backhand with a lot of spin and power but I'm like you in that I just love the one-handed backhand. I am trying to add more spin but am having a hard time. It's a constant struggle. I've watched a ton of videos on it but seem to hit flat almost every time.